In our family we are thankful for every moment we have together, we don't sweat the small stuff. Even the smallest of events feels like a miracle. We cherish what we have because we realize how quickly it all can change.
10 years ago, life as we knew it changed forever. On Monday, December 29, 2008, our son Blake was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He was considered high risk, and we instantly plunged into a world we had zero knowledge of prior to that day. Suddenly, the little bald child you see on the commercials was our child. We learned what Absolulte Neutrophil Count meant, and how to mask chemo pills and steroids by crushing them up and serving them in pudding. We learned what wrestling holds worked best to hold our child still while his port was accessed, so he wouldn't kick his nurse. We learned what a port was. We learned that Blake's cancer treatment would include countless spinal taps, port accesses, surgeries, chemo doses, hospitalizations, clinic visits... We learned that these little bald boys and girls going through the same, or similar treatments were somehow some of the very strongest people we would ever encounter in our lifetime. Each child we witnessed going through childhood cancer had an impact on our lives. We still cheer for each and every one of the survivors as they hit milestones, so many of them are in their teenage years now, it is really, truly amazing to see. And as we cheer for the survivors, we mourn those we knew, who passed away, those cancer took, long before it was their time.
We learned that steriods are no joke and two year olds can have some major roid rage. We started drawing our stick people with ports, iv poles and hospital gowns and masks.
Beyond any of those things we learned not to sweat the small stuff. To appreciate every moment as the gift it is. We watched other people's children slip away, we watched families lose their youngest, smallest members. We realized that this was something that could happen to us.
Thankfully, our story has a happy ending. Blake responded quickly to his treatments. The medical team in charge of his care was absolutely amazing and they saved his life. We thank God every day for that.
Blake has been cancer free and off chemo long enough to be considered cured now. Not just in remission, but cured! He is a bright, loving, engaging 12 year old, 7th grader. He adores his little sisters and is such a central part of our family that it is just absolutely impossible to imagine what our family would have been like without him in it. He plans to do big things in his future, and he has already done big things, he beat cancer, he maintained a positive outlook. He brought tons of prayer warriors together, and he continues to push forward, learning, adapting, facing any obstacles with a fire in his eyes and an eagerness to live.
This 10 year anniversary is something we can now celebrate, not because we are glad that Blake had cancer, of course we would rather he not have gone through that, but because of all we learned, how much we all have grown, and the renewed ability we all have to appreciate every single moment of life. We live life to the fullest now because of this kid and all that he has endured, all that we have endured together. We have a gratitude to God, to our prayer warriors, to Blake's medical team, our friends and family, everyone who crossed our path.
